On This Day In Alabama History: Mae Jemison Was Born In Decatur
By Graydon Rust Alabama 200
October 17, 1956
Former astronaut Mae Jemison was born in Decatur. In 1992, Jemison became the first African-American woman to travel to space when she served as a science mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavor. During her only mission in space, she led crew-related scientific experiments in the Spacelab, a portable laboratory developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. After retiring from NASA in 1993, Jemison founded a technology consulting firm, a medical technology company and the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, a scientific philanthropic organization. Jemison was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
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